Talib Kweli Quotes
- All Quotes
-
Hip-hop is a vehicle.
-
I don't feel comfortable making empty music.
-
We're in an illusion about what our role is in world politics and foreign affairs, and our policies are killing and destroying and doing a lot of things that we are not aware of.
-
I think people are into me because of my music choices and my musicality.
-
When I'm in the studio, I'm strictly thinking about the beats, the rhymes and the song. The decision I make once the songs are created, and there's a barcode put on the package, and I'm out there in the street selling it, those decisions as a businessman are different than the creative decisions you make.
-
That's what hip-hop is: It's sociology and English put to a beat, you know.
-
My personal take on politics is I deal with social situations and cultural situations in my music and in my life. I have said on record many times that I haven't voted. I'm not the type of person who says, 'I'm never going to vote.' I think it's clear to me that our system has failed us.
-
These cats drink champagne and toast to death and pain, Like slaves on a ship talking about who's got the flyest chain
-
What's more condescending and corny than someone telling you how much more money they have than you and telling you basically, 'I don't care about poor people,' which is a large part of what you hear of corporate hip-hop on the radio.
-
I'm not looking to set a standard... but, I believe I have offered a challenge to others with my work.
-
I take certain steps to make sure I'm relevant artistically. I always have new music and a reason to be on the road. I'm not just playing 'Get By' over and over. I have 12 albums.
-
At exactly which point do you start to realize, that life without knowledge is death in disguise?
-
The materialism, the brashness, the misogyny - everything in hip-hop is amplified. Misogyny is a good example of something that is completely amplified in hip-hop. I do think there is more than enough of a balance, though, for fans who are willing to search it out.
-
If I'm performing with a DJ, it's all on me to draw the energy. I like the camaraderie of a band.
-
You gotta eat right, you gotta have healthy habits, you know, and balance out your decadence with a healthy lifestyle during the day.
-
I think its man's nature to go to war and fight.
-
Woman are complex creatures.
-
Life is a beautiful struggle People search through the rubble for a suitable hussle Some people using their noodle Some people using their muscle Some people put it all together make it fit like a puzzle
-
My fondest memories were watching the Beastie Boys get prepped to come on stage. They had a lot of antics and they play a lot of basketball... then they were giving out cameras to the crowd, and performing from the bleachers. The most important thing I learned was that you control your crowd, not the other way around.
-
Things are fluid in this world, and if you don't remain fluid, you get lost in the sauce.
-
Being called 'conscious' is a great thing to be, but it's the connotations and preconceived notions that come with the buying audience about what conscious music can be.
-
Before Eminem, the idea that there would be a white rapper that anybody would really check for was fantastic or amazing or impossible.
-
I met Mos Def around that time but I didn't hook up with him until I was about 17 or 18.
-
You know, there's a lot of activism that doesn't deal with empowerment, and you have to empower yourself in order to be relevant to any type of struggle.